Girl, 16, arrested for series of street robberies

Police says officers have arrested a 16-year-old girl who is suspected of committing as many as three street robberies in Seattle in the last three months.

One robbery occurred just before 6 p.m. on Jan 8. A woman was walking near 20th Avenue South and South McClellan Street. A suspect, who was wearing headphones, asked to borrow the woman’s cell phone. The woman refused, and the suspect pushed her into some bushes and used pepper spray on her. She tried to grab the woman’s purse but failed. The suspect ran off into a waiting car.

A similar crime occurred just before 1 a.m. Jan. 9 at 1th Avenue and Spruce Street, and police believe the same suspect may also be responsible for a robbery downtown in December.

Robbery detectives identified her. Officers arrested her just before 10 p.m. Thursday near Third Avenue and Pike Street.